The Senior Deputy Speaker

Peers: Workplace Pensions

Baroness Deech: To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker to explainthe justification for the exemption from registration of EU pensions to which are attached conditions that a reasonable member of the public might regard as likely to influence their conduct as parliamentarians, as set out in paragraph 68 of the 10th edition of the Guide to the Code of Conduct for Members of the House of Lords (September 2021).

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Members are not required to register their pension arrangements. The Committee for Privileges and Conduct (as it then was) has considered several times over a number of years whether EU pensions should be singled out for registration, most recently after the 2016 referendum on European Union membership. The Committee did not recommend such a change to the rules, noting that (a) declaration of EU pensions would be required if the House debated liability for those pensions during exit negotiations, and (b) the perception that support of the EU is a condition of receipt of a pension from an EU institution results from a selective reading of Article 245 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Ministry of Defence

NHS: Military Aid

Lord Tunnicliffe: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many military personnel are currently deployed to help support the NHS.

Baroness Goldie: As of 14 October 2021, 559 military personnel were deployed to support the NHS.

Navy: Coronavirus

Lord Tunnicliffe: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many personnel who are part of the UK's carrier strike group have tested positive for COVID-19.

Baroness Goldie: As of 15 October 2021, 710 UK Armed Forces Personnel were reported as having tested positive to COVID-19 since the UK Carrier Strike Group deployed in May 2021.

Ministry of Defence: Energy Supply

Lord Coaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what involvement the Ministry of Defence has in securing and protecting the UK’s energy supplies; and what is their strategy for that role.

Baroness Goldie: The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy is responsible for the overall operation and resilience of the UK's domestic energy market. In parallel, defence of the UK and its overseas territories from the malicious intent of our adversaries is the first task of the Ministry of Defence. This extends to being prepared to defend against and counter external hostile threats to our way of life and the delivery of critical services. Our strategy for this is set out in the Defence Command Paper, published on 22 March 2021.

Ministry of Defence: Artificial Intelligence

Lord Coaker: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Ministry of Defence will publish its artificial intelligence strategy.

Baroness Goldie: The Ministry of Defence will publish the first Defence Artificial Intelligence (AI) Strategy later this year.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Military Aid

Lord Tunnicliffe: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many military personnel are currently deployed as HGV drivers.

Baroness Goldie: Under Military Aid to Civilian Authority, Defence has made available approximately 250 military fuel tanker drivers and a similar number of support staff, to assist the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy with ensuring the continuity of fuel supplies around Great Britain.

Department of Health and Social Care

Disability: Children

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the economic benefits of increasing the funding given to disabled children’s health and social care services, and (2) the level of unmet need for disabled children’s health and social care services.

Lord Kamall: Although no specific assessments have been made, we are working with the Department for Education and NHS England and NHS Improvement to improve the provision of health and care services for disabled children.On 6 September, we announced an additional £5.4 billion for the National Health Service over the next six months, bringing the total Government support for health services in response to COVID-19 to over £34 billion in 2021/22. This includes £2 billion to reduce waiting times for patients, including disabled children. Councils have access to £51.3 billion to deliver core services, including a £1.7 billion grant for social care. To support local areas, we have provided over £6 billion in un-ringfenced funding directly to councils for the immediate and longer-term impacts of COVID-19 spending pressures, including for children’s social care.

Primary Health Care

Baroness Merron: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made, if any, of the benefits of a national strategy which fully integrates self-care for minor ailments into the NHS.

Baroness Merron: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to promote self-care for minor ailments in order to reduce pressure on GPs and A&E departments.

Lord Kamall: No assessment has been made of a separate strategy for the integration of self-care for minor ailments, as supported self-management and self-care for short term and ongoing physical and mental health conditions is an integral part of the NHS Long Term Plan.Community pharmacies in England delivering NHS services provide support for self-care as part of their essential services. The Community Pharmacist Consultation Advanced Service enables NHS111 and general practitioners to refer patients with a minor illness to a pharmacist for a consultation to reduce pressure on primary care and accident and emergency departments.

Liothyronine

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bethell on 17 March (HL14040), what assessment they have made as to whether the fall in the price of Liothyronine (T3) is related to increased competition from marketing authorisations granted since 2016.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer byLord Bethell on 17 March (HL14040),what plans they have to encourage further marketing authorisations for Liothyronine (T3).

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Bethell on 17 March (HL14040), what assessment they have made of the reduction in cost of Liothyronine (T3) in the UK, compared to the cost of the medication in other parts of Europe.

Lord Kamall: We have made no further assessment of the price of Liothyronine relative to increased competition from marketing authorisations or the cost of medicines in other parts of Europe. Further marketing authorisation applications remain at the discretion of pharmaceutical companies.

Department for International Trade

Arms Trade: Turkey

Baroness Hodgson of Abinger: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they are currently granting licences for arms exports to Turkey; and what plans they have, if any, to suspend the issue of new licences.

Lord Grimstone of Boscobel: Licences for arms exports continue to be issued to Turkey, but only where they are consistent with the Oral Statement to Parliament on 15th October 2019 made by my right hon. Friend the then Foreign Secretary, which clarifies that no export licences are currently being issued to Turkey for items that might be used in military operations in Syria. All export licence applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis against the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria, taking into account all Relevant factors at the time of the application, including how the goods will be used. HM Government publishes official statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) about export licences on GOV.UK including detailed information on the type of export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, type (e.g. military, other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences.